New Trip Report posted by marsonite

Trip Name: 19 Days in Wabakimi Provincial Park.

Entry Point: 4

Click Here to View Trip Report

Great report, I enjoyed reading this. It gives those of us that have thought about Wabakimi a good idea of what to expect.

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Nice report! Enjoyed the picture, too. It looks like you saw some really interesting country and sounds like quite an experience.

Good report. You got to see a lot of the park . Weather can certainly make or break a trip. Nice slideshow too. Would you do Wabakimi it again?

quote hobbydog: "Good report. You got to see a lot of the park . Weather can certainly make or break a trip. Nice slideshow too. Would you do Wabakimi it again? "

Thanks. Honestly probably not. I don't regret going, was glad I got to see it, but it is likely a "one off". If I was going to go again I'd go in from the west.

Two things detract from it in my opinion; it obviously gets a lot of rain--you don't have knee deep sphagnum moss growing everywhere including bedrock outcroppings because it's hot and dry a lot of the time! We really had a sense that we were canoeing in a rain forest. You definitely need good rain gear (ours could have been better) and good fire building skills. And I wished my tarp was bigger.

Also, the fishing outposts are everywhere. I have had more of a sense of remoteness in the interior of the Quetico than anywhere we were in Wabakimi. Now in fairness, we really didn't see many people; it's a huge place and it's mostly empty. Only two canoe groups in 18 days! If you count watching an airplane land as seeing someone, we still had 10 days where we didn't see a soul!

Best walleye fishing of my life on Arril Lake. So easy it was almost boring.

I had been thinking about Wabakimi as a change of pace to what seems like a busier Quetico. Your trip report changed all that. Float planes landing all over the place, outposts, motorboats, railroad tracks, etc... Other than on perimeter lakes, you don't see much of that in Quetico. I might give Woodland Caribou a try at some point, otherwise I think I can find the seclusion I desire in Quetico in late September and/or May.

Well to tell you the truth, I found the trip report to be quite the whine. Frankly, poor planning, taking routes that are overly popular, inadequate maps, too hot, too wet, too something else that's wrong. Bah. I've spent about 90 days in Wabakimi over the last ten years and find this trip report a lot more disappointing than the park ever was.

quote : "Well to tell you the truth, I found the trip report to be quite the whine. Frankly, poor planning, taking routes that are overly popular, inadequate maps, too hot, too wet, too something else that's wrong. Bah. I've spent about 90 days in Wabakimi over the last ten years and find this trip report a lot more disappointing than the park ever was. "

Well guest, whoever you are, I feel that my panning of Wabakimi has offended you so I choose not to take this personally. Sorry.

My maps were fine. Kudus again to the official Wabakimi Provincial park map. Seems like the park management is really making an effort to make the park more canoe friendly, and that's great. Regarding taking too popular a route, we were originally going to go through Granite and then catch the Kopka going through Aldridge, but after 6 days of rain kicked our butts, we elected to take Smoothrock down to Schultz's trail. And actually, we only saw one float plane unloading all the way to Onamakawash, so really, that was the most enjoyable part of our trip within Wabakimi proper.

Just trying to be honest and provide a record of my experience for future travellers. Overall the trip was a success.

Thanks for the fine report. I've been curious to know more about that park. The fishing outposts are disappointing to hear about but the experience of the "rain forest" would be interesting to experience.

I like to sleep in a hammock but that doesn't seem to be a very good option up there. I'd like your opinion on that, thanks. Also loved your comment on the non paddlers perspective. So true! We are in such a minority and I get a kick out of comments like that too. Also the fishermen ignoring you. I've experienced that too.

Enjoyed the pics very much and wish there were more. Also, lowering the canoe down the portage with a rope reminded me of the louisa Falls portage in quetico. Dangerous stuff there. Happy trails to you.